Caps Open Up with Options

Not a single Capitals player managed to appear in all 82 of the team's games last season. Between COVID and the usual bumps, bruises, aches and pains, the Caps didn't have any "iron men" for the first time since 2003-04. Despite their lineup being in a seemingly constant state of flux from opening night through season's end, the Caps navigated those choppy waters well enough to finish with 100 points. It was the eighth straight season in which Washington either reached the century mark or - in the shortened seasons of '19-20 and '20-21 - was on a pace to do so over an 82-game slate.

As they seek to extend that impressive streak, the Capitals will start the '22-23 season right where they left off, missing some key elements of those recent triple-digit clubs. Center Nicklas Backstrom is out indefinitely after undergoing offseason hip surgery, left wing Carl Hagelin is out indefinitely with an eye injury and hip surgery, and right wing Tom Wilson is recovering from offseason knee surgery.
Last season, the Caps had to be nimble in dealing with the constant roster turmoil, reaching out to AHL Hershey regularly for reinforcements. In the case of each of this fall's early season absences, the team has operated all summer with the knowledge that it would be missing the trio at season's start, and the corresponding roster moves are designed to mitigate the absences of those three forwards while also providing the team with fortification up front for the inevitable injuries head.
When the NHL's unrestricted free agency shopping outlet opened for business in mid-July, the Caps most notably signed a new netminding tandem in Darcy Kuemper and Charlie Lindgren. On the blueline, Washington added veteran lefty Erik Gustafsson. But up front is where the holes are.
Anticipating the absences of Backstrom, Hagelin and Wilson, Caps GM Brian MacLellan was also active in reshaping his forward group. He swapped a second-round draft pick to Ottawa in exchange for winger Connor Brown, signed center Dylan Strome as a free agent, and resigned deadline day reacquisition Marcus Johansson as a free agent. Brown is expected to fill in for Wilson on the right side of the team's top line with Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov, Johansson will help mitigate the loss of Hagelin, and Strome is expected to help fill the void up the middle in Backstrom's absence.
"Those are a couple of big pieces," acknowledges Caps' coach Peter Laviolette, addressing the absences of Backstrom and Wilson. "But I feel like some of the parts we picked up this summer can help cover that. I feel like the growth and development of some of our younger players can help with that, and I feel like the depth that we showed and used last year with some of the players that are trying to compete for a job on our team, we can cover those spots with that as well."
Strome can play center and left wing and Johansson can play anywhere up front. A right wing by trade, Brown is capable of playing a complementary role in the top nine and has also skated the left side at times during his career. Adding these three useful pieces to a team that already has a few of them will give Laviolette many options - both horizontally and vertically - on a night-to-night basis, should he need to fill holes on the fly or to patch temporary absences in the lineup. The Caps will likely need to rely on a committee to replace the likes of Backstrom and Wilson.
"I think there's lots of guys here who can fill that role, but obviously I don't think that anyone can fill quite the role that he does," says Strome, referring to Backstrom specifically. "He's one of the best passers in the game and has been for a long time. Anytime a guy is injured on your team, you have guys step up to try and fill that role as best they can.
"We'll see what happens. I'm not sure what the lines or going to be, but I'm ready for whatever task is thrown at me. I played a bit of wing last year, and mostly center, so we'll see what happens. I'm looking forward to it, and there are lots of good players on this team."
Not only does the Caps' coach have a host of players who can play multiple positions, he has players who can step into top six or bottom six slots.
"He really likes having guys that can play center and wing," says MacLellan, referring to Laviolette. "From day one, he's come in and said he likes it, and so now we have guys that can do that if he wants to go that way. Flexibility is important to him, depth at the center position is important to him, and I think we have it to a certain extent."
Washington opens the season with 14 healthy forwards on its roster, and in Nic Dowd, Lars Eller, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Connor McMichael, Aliaksei Protas, Johansson and Strome, half of their forward corps is capable of manning the middle of the ice.
"He's a guy that for me can play both positions," says Laviolette of Strome. "I really like that. Even with Nick off to the side for now, it could put five center men in our lineup, and I always like that because when a center man goes down, now you have someone who can naturally move around and it's just a little bit easier to replace a wing."
Strome's addition could help juice the Caps' face-off rates, too. Washington finished 30th in the circuit with a circle success rate of just 47.1% last season. With Chicago in '21-22, Strome forged a career best 52.3% face-off win rate in 69 games, the first time in six seasons he has been on the right side of 50 percent.
"Last year I wasn't in the lineup a lot at the beginning of the season," says Strome, "and it was one of those things that I worked on in the summer to hopefully help my chances to have the coach trust me and have some confidence in me to throw me out there at key times. It's something I worked on in the summer, and playing with a guy like Jonathan Toews helps a lot; he is a guy who is always around the high 50s or low 60s for a face-off number. Anytime you have a guy like that you can lean on and watch and see what he does, I think it helps.
"I just tried to go into every face-off and take it seriously, and to try to win it for the team. Every time you start with the puck, it's very beneficial for your line and for yourself, and more chances to score."
Washington's flexibility is not limited to the center ice position, nor does it stem entirely from the offseason additions to the roster. Incumbent wingers Anthony Mantha and Conor Sheary are each capable of skating both sides of the ice, while Protas has shown the ability to play all three forward positions.
"It's part of hockey," says Mantha. "You kind of get used to playing everywhere, depending on what the coaching staff wants you to do. For me personally, I've been playing on the right side since basically junior, so I'm kind of getting used to that. But it's just a quick habit to go back to the left side. And once you're in a game, if you end up on the other side, then your other winger is going to cover up for you or your center is going to cover up for you.
"Everyone is kind of able to play everywhere, and it's huge for the coaching staff. It makes things way easier, and if we're not scoring like we should it makes things way easier for Peter to change the lines around and try new combinations, and to find as many perfect combinations as he can."
Entering his third season with the Capitals, Sheary has proven to be one of the most useful players on the roster during his tenure in D.C. He is effective on both special teams, he can be deployed as a complementary player in the top six or as an effective shutdown player in the bottom six.
"He does everything right," said Laviolette of Sheary, late in his first season with the Caps. "He wins wall battles, he plays hard, he plays physical, he goes to the front of the net. He has a skill level to play on a first line or to check on a third line. He's been so valuable for us. He plays the game the right way."
"It's good to have that many guys who can have the capability of doing that," says Sheary. "I think if you can play anywhere in the lineup, you're a huge asset. We have a lot of those guys, guys who can play both wings, play all four lines and play any role that they're asked to play. From my personal experience, sometimes it's good to move from one wing to the other and maybe get a fresh start. But wherever you are in the lineup, you've just got to bring whatever you can and do what you do best. In my case, that's working hard and just being responsible out there. That doesn't change regardless of where I am in the lineup."
There were nights last season when Laviolette had but one or two of his usual four center men available to him. There was a night in Winnipeg in December when Alex Ovechkin was the lone member of Washington's top six forward group who was in the lineup. Injuries are bound to happen, but the Caps have more options and flexibility, even after losing wingers Axel Jonsson-Fjallby (to Winnipeg) and Brett Leason (to Anaheim) on waivers earlier in the week.
Missing three key pieces at the start of the campaign isn't easy in the NHL, but the Caps know what they're up against and they believe they've addressed the issues as best they could over the summer.
"Those are obviously big holes in our lineup," says Sheary. "Those are guys that we're going to miss to start the season, but it gives other guys - myself included - opportunities to move up the lineup and get some more ice time, and to prove yourself on this team. There are no spots given out here; that's what training camp is for. And everyone has got to earn their right to play."
"To me," begins Laviolette, "the moves that were made this summer give us a really good chance of trying to sustain those injuries and cover those injuries of Nick Backstrom, who was our leading scorer two years ago and has been such a mainstay in this organization for so many years as a top player, and a guy like Tom Wilson who's really hard to replace."